Hello Everyone,

Today was nice. It was really hot, but I like hot weather. I went to a friend's bbq today. I was going to wear a really cute top, but I just couldn't find my expensive strapless bra. I was so pissed. I was looking for it for a couple of hours. And no luck.  It's summer and I really want to wear my cute tops. And I can't due to the lack of my friggin' strapless bra. I am gonna check in storage tommorow. I would hate to have to shell out money for another one.

Y'all know that I used to work at Red Loster for 4 years. Today I got a letter from Red Lobster Claims Administrator. When I first saw that I wanted to pee my pants because I thought that someone there was trying to sue me. But then I realized that a class action lawsuit was filed against Red Lobster and that employees working in a certain timeframe are eligible for payment from the settlement. According to the letter I am eligible to receive payment. I just have to complete the claims form.

I went to a bbw with my friend. We were celebrating her husband's birthday at Alum Rock Park. I got a nice sunburn. We all played volleyball and ate a lot of food.

I know I have more to say, but I better go home. I am so damn tired right now. I will write more later.

Night.

Digs on the new job

Hello Everyone,

I haven't updated all week because I have been busy with my job. Our hours are long and I have been exhausted every day. But I am still having fun.

We open at 7:30am and close at 6pm. But those hours mean crap. Because if we are there early, say at 6:50am and a customer is there then we have to help them. That happened today.

15 minutes before we closed today a woman made a reservation and I had to drive about 15 minutes to pick her up. So I picked her up and made it back into the office by about 7pm. But her credit card didn't work so I had to drive all the way back to her place. We didn't even make a sale. I also had to take another woman too. I clocked out at about 7:45pm. We are supposed to close at 6.

As I was leaving some guy was there accusing us of taking his wallet while we were closing out his contract. He demanded that we call the police. So my manager had to call the police and wait for the officer to come down and write up a report. I dunno how he thinks that we could steal his wallet in front of him and other customers.

Some Indian guy asked my boss about our rates and we couldn't rent to him because he was under 21. So he turned to his friend and called my boss an asshole in his native tongue. But my boss is half Indian and understood everything. Why do people make assumptions ? So many people make assumptions about what language people speak based purely on their appearances.

This week our bosses invited us to a happy hour. This job is cool because it really is a happy hour. We are allowed to have alcohol, unlike my previous jobs where we were regulated. A lot of our managers were there so I got to meet them and talk to them.

Yesterday they also invited us to go bowling. That was cool too. I consider myself to be an average bowler, but I sucked so bad. The balls kept going into the sides and I didn't even knock down one pin most of the time. It was cool socializing with my coworkers. Everyone there is around my age, even the higher management.

Anyways, that is a little of how my week has been. I will write more soon. I don't think there will be any social events next week.

Ciao for now.

A Girly Post and Rant

Hello Everyone,

Elisa, I just wanted to let you know that I thought about you a lot yesterday. You see, I was sitting at Starbucks just minding my own business and reading over my boring ass health insurance plans and boring insurance terms.

Then all of a sudden two cops walked in. All dressed in their crisp, cop uniforms with their shiny badges proudly on display on their chests. One of them was so fine. I just stared while they were getting their coffee. The older guy saw me staring and knew that I was staring. But I didn't care. What were they gonna do ? Arrest me for staring ? I wouldn't have minded.

Then there was this other guy studying. He was so fine too. I didn't see him until I left. He was a stud with his head buried in his books. He kinda smiled at me and I blushed.

It is no secret that I like men in uniform. Nor is it a secret that I like men that are intelligent and studious.

Speaking of secret, I went to Victoria's Secret yesterday. They don't sell DD bras in their stores anymore. They just go to D. They claim that there isn't a high enough demand. What kind of bullcrap is that ????? There are plenty of naturally "blessed" women out there, not to mention women that pay for augmentation. It's not my fault that God decided to bless me.

I think that I am gonna have to go into business. Because I am so damn sick of searching high and low for a nice bra. And I always get stuck with the plain or granny designs. Would it kill the people at Vic Secret to use lace or put on cute designs ? Maybe they are jealous. Who knows at this point.

Anyways, that is all for today. I had a big, long day at work today. But I will write about that next time. Ciao.

A Hot Saturday

Hello Everyone,

Today has been really hot. Although, I felt it was much worse in Barcelona last year. Last year when I was there, I had no air conditioning for the whole summer and it was really humid. After my American hair dryer blew the fuse and died I was left with frizzy hair for the whole summer. Here it's not so humid and most Americans like myself have access to air conditioning. Nevertheless, I was sweating like a pig today.

I got my haircut today. I got it layered a little more. I really like it. I also got my eyebrows waxed again. I was so close to getting highlights, but my stylist ran out of time.

I had to go downtown for my haircut, and I thought I new where the parking garages were. But it turns out that the garages close to the place were closed today so I had to park out in the sun. Not only that, but driving in downtown San Jose is confusing for me because many streets are only one way.

I also was gonna do my laundry today, but our wash machine is broken, so that means that I will have to search out a laundromat. This sort of stuff used to happen to me all the time in Spain. At least here I don't have to haul my dirty clothes around town on foot. I can just load them in my car and drive. Imagine that.

Right now, I am typing this of course, but I have been going through all my bills, trying to get organized. Looks like the APR on my credit card went up again even though they lowered it for me a couple of years ago. Those sneaky bastards.

Anyways, I better get back to straightening all my stuff out. Ciao.

Pick Enterprise. We pick you up.

Hello Everyone,

I haven't been on here all week. That is rare for me. I was away for job training for my new job. I am now a Manager in Training at Enterprise Rent a Car

For our training they put us up in the Hilton Hotel in San Leandro. Although I had to pay for some of my meals we did get a free breakfast buffet every morning. It was good, but I have to say that no one can beat the breakfast buffet at the Marriot. They have the best Belgian Waffles. Just thinking about that makes me drool.

But I can say the the Hilton I stayed at had the best bed ever. I had a full sized bed with 5 comfy pillows and some nice sheets. I don't know what thread count it was, but it was damn good. I heard they sells these sheets as their own brand. I can't wait for my first paycheck.

I had a roommate but we got along well. Plus my coworkers came over to our room to study and have a couple of drinks so we had fun. We were a small group (9 people) so we bonded. It was sad to see people leave today because we all will be working at different branches.

The managers doing the training were very nice and helpful. In fact, I loved my training and my coworkers. They really were careful hiring because I had to interview three times and get a background check. Everyone was positive and driven, which is really important to me as I start my career. I can't stand working with people that complain and give excuses as to why the job didn't get done. Here, we aren't really allowed to give excuses, only appologize and offer solutions.

I say this because I hated some of my past jobs and didn't care. I didn't care because there was no room for advancement, or the managers weren't really taking care of their employees. And because I didn't like those jobs, I didn't really put myself out there all the time. As a result, I developed some bad habits.

Now college is over and I am out in the workforce as a fulltime employee. Now I have to break all those bad workhabits I developed and not look back.

Although the management is awesome and we had a lot of fun in our training they are putting us through the grill. They gave us homework every night and it we have to take an exam in a couple of weeks and pass with at least a 90%. Plus our salary is really low now and we will be working our butts off to prove to management that we can run the business and motivate everyone. They start us off low and promote us after we've proved ourselves.

 

 

I Will Plant You a Lilac Tree

Hello Everyone,

Above is the title of a new book I read. The author is Laura Hillman, and I know her personally. She is a dear friend and companion to my Grandpa Max. I got to visit her and spend time with her a few years ago. She is a very beautiful woman and very kind and gentle. Her picture is on the cover. She was so pretty.

She is one of the strongest people I know. She is a holocaust survivor and a Schindler Jew. I saw a copy of the list and I saw her name at the bottom. To see her name there on that list was a definite reminder that this all really happened.

She wouldn't really talk about her experiences with me, so I had to wait all these years to find out. She went through eight concentration camps, and witnessed so many horrible things.

And when I talked to her about my life and told her my little troubles, she was genuinely concerned and sympathetic. I remember telling her about my roommate problems, and she listened. She could have laughed at me and told me to grow up and suck it up. She lost her her whole family. I was bitching about my roommate. But she didn't, and I really admired that about her.

I remember her showing me a picture of her family on the wall. She told me that this all happened 60 years ago, but that it still hurts so much. These survivors really never get over it. You know, in the news you see survivors talking about their experiences or writing books. They talk about how they have moved on with their lives, and how they have learned that they must never hate. But it's important to remember that they still have to relive these experiences and that they never go away.

It has been a while since I talked to her. I think that she is on tour right now talking to school children. I miss her. I am gonna write her again.

Anyways, I better go home now. Ciao.

High School and College Buddies

Hello Everyone,

Today I went to a bbq to catch up with my gal friends at my friend's house. We went to high school and some of us went to college together. I haven't seen them for a while, especially since I was away for a year.

The weather was baking outside and I got a lot of sun. In fact, it was so hot that I burned the soles of my feet by daring to walk on the hot cement. Luckily my friend has a pool so I spent a lot of time in there.

Anyways, we all talked about the good ole' high school days, our college days and life after. Time sure can fly.

We are all college grads now. One just graduated a couple of months ago. Some of us have jobs, and some are looking for work and living at home. One of us is married. None of us have children yet. I feel that we are in the beginning stages of our lives. Things are starting to happen for us. My married friend just got a new job, is building a house and planning on having children soon.

As for me, I just came back from Europe, I just got a new job and a new car. I feel like I am starting my life. Those days of laying the foundation are over. Now I am starting to build over that foundation.

Just 6 years ago we were all single high school girls talking about our futures with nothing to show for it. I can't imagine any of us having children. In my mind we will always be young, single girls.

It was a nice day. But part of me felt a little nostalgic and sad. Sometimes I wish for those days where I could have a clean slate like I did 6 years ago. I am sure we all think about that from time to time.

Anyways, that's enough deep talk for now.

 

 

A very, very lazy Friday

Hello Everyone,

Today I slept in till 11am this morning. I am glad I did because starting Monday morning I'll have to start waking up at 6am. I am by no means a morning person, but I better get used to it because most professional jobs start in the morning. I think Starbucks and I will become good friends.

I also bought a movie called The Spanish Apartment. Actually is is a movie in French and Spanish. The title it's advertised under is L'augberg espagnole.

It's about this French Erasmus student that goes to Barcelona for a year. Watching that movie was like watching myself on screen because I went through most of the same things he did. It was also cool because they showed the same places I used to hang out at.

I watched that movie before I went to Barcelona, and then today. Watching it then and now were different both times. Being away from home for a year really changed me.

So, yeah. That movie was good. I will keep it for when I am nostalgic want to relive Barcelona. I actually like watching foreign films with English subtitles. In my opinion they tend to be more real than the Hollywood films. Plus, for me it's like traveling without leaving my house.

Anyways, my thoughts aren't so organized today. I better go.

Ciao.

I got a new car !!!

Hello Everyone,

I just thought that I would share the news with you. In addition to my new job that I start on Monday, I also have a new car. I have been back in the US for exactly a month today and I have a new job and a new car. Not bad, I think. I really worked my ass off though so I am glad it paid off.

Anyways, it is a 2004 Nissan Sentra in white with 42,000 miles on it. Enterprise hooked me up with a fairly good deal and a very nice interest rate. I am so happy that I have a new car. You know what that means ? It means no more walking everywhere, and no more having to rely on the shitty bus system we have here, nor having to beg people to give me a ride.

More specifically, it means:

1.) No more dirty construction workers hissing at me and talking about me in Spanish. Si, entiendo espanol bastante bien.

2.) No more strangers honking at me and pulling over to ask me if I need a ride. Why do guys think I will hop into their car??????

3.) No more having to deal with walking along a street with no sidewalk. The street that I was walking along had no sidewalk, and I felt like I was in the street (well, because I was). This is because our neighborhood is very new and they still have to build one.

4.) No more having to wake up early to ensure that I have a ride. My housemates leave early so that means that I had to get up early. Like 6 friggin' AM. So now, I get to sleep in for however long I want.

5.) No more having to beg for rides. I hate begging, and I hate having to constantly remind people. Especially since I consider myself to be independent.

6.) No more sweating like a pig under the hot sun.

On another note, yesterday was a nice day. I took the lightrail to Downtown San Jose. I ate at a nice little Italian Restaurant called Bellamia's. It was late afternoon and I just love being in Downtown San Jose around that time, especially under all the trees. I ate some good pasta.

I really shouldn't have spent money but I just couldn't help myself. I love being Downtown and walking around. There is also a very good Spanish restaurant there called Picasso's. I will go there again soon.

Anyways, I am sure I will have more to write soon. Ciao.

 

May the Spanish Post Office Rot in Hell

Hello Everyone,

Before I left Spain, I mailed a lot of stuff back home to save myself some trouble. It was kinda expensive too. I mailed myself my books, some clothes, shoes, and magazines, ect...... I paid a lot of money. About as much it would probably cost to just take another luggage on the plane. I didn't realize that at the time. I do now. Sometimes we have to learn the hard way.

Big Effin' mistake. They stole half of my stuff. My Diesel shoes, my knee high boots, my favorite shampoo, my Spanish grammar books that I really treasured. Other books I really loved. They even went so far as to take half of the stuff out of one of my boxes and stuff it with someone else's stuff. In one of my boxes I found a box of knives, baby clothes and candles. WTF?????

I am so so so so pissed. I worked so hard to walk all around town to find a post office that was open, I paid them a lot of money and waited. And not only are the boxes clearly thrown around, but they are missing stuff that I really wanted back. I spent about 200 Euros. I should have saved that money or paid the airlines.

To be honest, I don't remember how many boxes I sent out. I think that I sent out 3- 4 boxes. I am not sure which. I received 3 today. I am hoping that I get one more. I may have sent 4. I really want my Diesel shoes and boots back. I swear its like they knew exactly was I wanted the most out of all the stuff and stole it.

And I was so proud of myself. 99% of the people I knew in Barcelona got robbed. And I was telling people that I never got robbed the whole year I was there. Boy was I was wrong. I got jacked at the very last minute.

If you ever EVER have to travel to a foreign country, learn from me. Do NOT mail anything precious home unless you really have to. I mean, I took the stuff that I wanted the most in my suitcase. I am not a complete idiot. But I still would like to have some of the stuff that I lost back. Gosh, I feel like an idiot.

Status: Employed :)

Hello Everyone,

I am so happy today because I got a job offer from Enterprise. After 3 interviews. I will be in the Management Training Program. I will start on Monday by observing and filling out paperwork. Then I will go to San Leandro for the rest of the week for training. Then I will officially be on the job observing, learning and doing different tasks from washing cars to helping customers to learning how to run the whole place.

Now that I have a job I can look at buying cars. I went to the Toyota lot today. I wasn't real impressed with their used car selection, but I did like their used Rav 4 SUV.

 I will keep checking back because I liked the salesguy that I talked to. He wasn't trying to pressure me or upsell me. I hope that I end up buying with him, but the again, I am out for the best deal. May the best deal win.

Nothing really more to talk about. I did go out with my old college buddy. We went to Applebees and she bought me dinner. The we went to her new apartment. I like where they live and am considering moving there. The best part was all us girls going shopping at Walmart together. Shopping at Walmart has never been so fun.

Anywho, I better go. G'night.

He's just not that into you.................

Hello Everyone,

The above title of today's entry is also the title of a book that I just read. So many people are reading it and even Oprah was talking about it. I wonder if you read it.

The basic message of the book is that women either listen to or make so many excuses in their minds as to why guys don't call them back or wait two weeks to schedule the next date: "He's really stressed. He's just got a lot on his plate. He's too scared. He's too shy. He just got out of a long relationship................" But what all this really means is that the guy really just isn't that into her. If the guy is really interested he will call as soon as he can.

I personally liked the book. I believe almost all of it. If I am starting to go out with a guy and he doesn't call me for a while(a week), I should just let it go. Sure he'll make excuses as to why he didn't call. He doesn't want to be rude or hurt my feelings. If I have been going out with a guy for 3 years and he refuses to discuss marraige or claims he is scared, maybe he is the wrong dude for me.

I believe that men really tell us women who they are and what they want by their actions. Sometimes they actually say it too. I think that many relationships fail because we fail to listen or pick up on actions. Maybe us women think we can change the man. Maybe we are disillusioned and think he will morph into the person we want him to be. Or maybe we've invested so much energy in a relationship that we just can't bear to see that it isn't working.

It's really important to listen to the dude when he describes himself. Are you a gal that wants to get married and wants a commitment from a guy ? Then why are you still dating him after he said " I am not really looking for anything serious. I just wanna have fun." on your first date?  Yeah, he's so hot. Yeah, your knees turn to jello when he kisses you. But when he doesn't call you when he says he will or he forgets your birthday you wonder why.

Words are so easy to pop out. What it all comes down to is his actions. So he shows up an hour late for your first date without warning you. And he appologizes. So what. That appology was so easy to blurt out. But it wasn't so easy for you to sit and wait that hour and feel humiliated. Dump that ass.

And the same goes the other way. Your boyfriend may not tell you he loves you as much as you hope. Yet he never forgets your birthday, he always complements you, he never abandons you in times of need, and buys you flowers every week. He's a keeper.

As I was reading the book, I had to disagree a little. Sometimes the man really is shy. Sometimes it may take a little longer for the guy to work up the nerve to call. Or maybe he didn't call back because he misread you and thought you weren't interested. Who knows. 

I liked that the authors didn't put men or women down. It was a book to empower women to find a man that is right for them. There is a man out there is the world that will love you. They say "Don't waste the pretty." Go and find that man that will treat you right. So the guy you're dating doesn't know if he wants to commit ? He doesn't like the word "girlfriend"? Well,  if you want a commitment go and find that man that is dying to show you off to his friends and family because he is out there.

And if you can't seem to find him ? You've been single a long time ? Well, I am in that position. And for me I would rather be single than spend my time on a man that can't bother to love me the way I would love him. It is hard sometimes because we are humans with emotions and in general we want company. But especially after going to Europe all by myself I learned a lot about myself. I would rather be single and sometimes lonely, but happy than taken, miserable and unloved. You have to love who you are first. How can you expect a guy to love you if you don't love yourself.

But as a general rule, I found this book to be useful. 

Okay, dinner is ready. Ciao.

 

 

Aren't grandparents the best ?

Hello Everyone,

Today was a nice day, but I will talk about that some other time. Over the weekend I talked to my grandma in California.

I have been so blessed with my grandparents. I already wrote about my Austrian grandma who has a heart of gold. She teaches me about Austria and helps me with my German and she helps the mentally handicapped. She even goes as far as to manage one man's finances so that no one takes advantage of him and so he spends it wisely. She always loads me up on Austrian chocolates before I go back to the USA. I love her dearly and I hope to go back again and visit her.

My grandma and grandpa on my dad's side are such wonderful people. They are in their eighties and STILL work like normal people. My grandma helps manage her inn and my grandpa is an architect and has a few clients. This gives me hope that I will be young, vibrant and hardworking when I am their age.

Most importantly they have hearts of gold. They are still so much in love like a young couple and my grandma reminds me everytime I visit of how much they love eachother. They also volunteer at their local church. The old ladies there love my grandpa. He brings them cakes. He also spends time with the sick.

They have always told me how much they loved me, and my grandma never spared any hugs. I am independent and hate to ask for financial help, but after I came back from Spain I was in such a bind. And my grandma helped me out and said that she was happy to help and told me how much she loved me. And that made me feel so loved and greatful.

 She always held me close and told me how much she loved me. I go up and visit her every Thanksgiving and she never forgets to tell me how much she loves me and thinks about me. And that means so much to me. In fact when the whole family gets together during that time there is so much love. A lot of us have times when we are away because our family is full of travelers. My dad used to travel all the time on business, and my other two cousins are traveling about in Asia. I was in Spain last year. I think this year we all might be united.

Anyways, that's all for today. I hope you are all as blessed as I have been in the grandparent department.

 

Outcrack Steakhouse

Hello Everyone,

Today was eventful. I haven't seen my brother in over a year. And I finally saw him again today. I missed him so much. We spent time together and talked about the good ole days growing up.

I also went to Outback Steakhouse to take a test. I have to call them back next week to find out the results. Anyways, it was like taking the goddang SATs. They had me do word relations ( Ex: Cat::Dog)  and a lot of math equations. With no calculator. I was doing great until I had to divide decimals into decimals. Ex: $54.75 divided by $9.23. I felt so dumb, but I never even really learned that in school. Don't ask. I just didn't.  I have no problem multiplying , but it's dividing that's a pain in the butt. They even kept the scratch paper.

While I was busy thinking and filling out the Outback SAT application, I heard the servers in the background talking about getting stoned over the weekend, getting wasted at the concert, using the f-word over and over. Why was I even taking that exam ? I can serve, I can smile and bring the food out on time. If I get stuck I always have a calculator. Most importantly, I can be trusted with cash. I did it for 4 years already. But apparently, that's not good enough.

It's a friggin' server job. Outback should get over themselves. They also asked me to rate myself: Am I positive ? How often do I go out of my way to help others ? How often do I make people laugh ? What do they expect me to tell them???? They tell us that there are no right or wrong answers and that we should be truthful. Well, that's a lie. What if I tell them I don't work well in groups all the time ? How about if I say that I sometimes feel like smacking stupid customers upside the head ? I guess that in this job market employers can demand perfect people.

What about the question they ask me:: Why do you want to work at Outback ? How am I supposed to answer that? Tell them that working at Outback has been a dream of mine since I had teeth to eat a juicy steak? Tell them that I always dreamed of being a waitress ?? It's purely for tips and the hours. Any reasonable restaurant manager should understand that. I just told them that I love the food and that the waitstaff seems so positive. Yeah, that's nice and all but I came for tips.

Tommorow I have another interview in the morning so I will write about that later.

Good Night :)

Busy Weekend

Hello Everyone,

Happy 4th to you :) I am in the process of moving to a new place with my family. In the mean time I will be looking for a new place to move out alone.

The weather was really hot here. Moving and lifting boxes up two flights of stairs just really drained me.

I will also be continuing the job search. I have a interview at Outback Steakhouse on Tues.

Anyways not much else to write about here. I just hope that we have a bbq this year.

 

Hello Everyone,

Well, today was my second day on the job as a temporary receptionist. Today was not a good day. Although I did a good job answering the phones and making hotel reservations, I kinda lacked in other areas.

I forgot to give some papers to the UPS guy. I used the wrong printer. Once I used the right printer, it didn't print everything. I used an Excel spreadsheet, and I forgot to save all my work. I didn't really work the whole day because I had an interview. Had I worked the whole day I am sure I would have probably gotten things done.

Speaking of interview, I had one today and I will tell you more once things start to happen. Just don't wanna jinx myself on this.

But I don't think that I will be accepting any high tech sales jobs at the moment, even though these types of jobs can really pay the bills. Right now I think that I need to get my feet wet with other jobs and build myself up. I really don't like high tech that much anyways. For one, I was never good with computers. I also suck at math.

Anyways, I am so hungry that I have a headache. I am gonna go look for something to eat.

Ciao :)